Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Episode 2 - "Disengage"Star Trek: Picard season 3 thankfully only waited until episode 2 to reveal the father of Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers), but given what we know thus far, does it make sense Jack's father is Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart)? Jack is the son of Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), and she confirmed who the young man's father is at the end of the second episode, "Disengage." But as the USS Titan-A tries to outrun the Shrike Captained by Vadic (Amanda Plummer), Star Trek: Picard (and the audience) must now deal with the ramifications of this bombshell.
Jean-Luc Picard had no offspring he was aware of prior to Star Trek: Picard season 3's Jack Crusher twist. Jean-Luc had reconciled the fact that he was the last Picard after his older brother Robert (Jeremy Kemp) was killed in a house fire along with his family in Star Trek Generations. Even though Jean-Luc had faced his lifelong demons and began a romance with Laris (Orla Brady, Picard had no hope of fathering children considering that he was nearly a century old. However, Jack Crusher now offers Jean-Luc the next generation of Picard that he previously believed was not possible. And yet, there are many questions that Star Trek: Picard season 3 must now answer about Jean-Luc, Beverly, and Jack.
How Jean-Luc Picard Can Be Jack Crusher's Father
For most of Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 2, Jean-Luc refused to acknowledge what Captain Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and the audience could plainly see: Jack Crusher had to be Picard's son. Of course, the overarching question is, how can Jack be Jean-Luc's offspring? Going by what Star Trek: Picard season 3's premiere reveals, Dr. Beverly Crusher left the USS Enterprise-E "over twenty years ago" and cut herself off from contact with Picard and the rest of her former crew mates. This obviously means Beverly had Jack and raised him in secret.
Star Trek: Nemesis took place in 2379 and, according to Star Trek: Picard's showrunner Terry Matalas, season 3 takes place in 2401 to coincide with Frontier Day, which is the 250th anniversary of the launch of the NX-01 Enterprise, a date recognized as the birth of the modern Starfleet. So, Jack's age checks out if he is roughly 20 years old in Star Trek: Picard season 3, although he physically appears and acts a bit older. (Ed Speleers is actually 34.) Beverly confirming Jack is Jean-Luc's son removes all doubt, but this opens up greater logical questions.
Does Picard Being Jack Crusher's Father Make Sense?
Putting aside any chance that Beverly Crusher is lying, how can Jean-Luc Picard be Jack's father? Jean-Luc and Beverly had an on-again/off-again relationship throughout TNG, and Picard confirmed to Laris that he and Dr. Crusher "tried to be lovers." But that romance was not evident the last time Picard and Crusher were seen together in Star Trek: Nemesis, although something could have certainly blossomed after. However, if Jean-Luc is in his 90s in Star Trek: Picard season 3, then he would have been in his 70s when Jack was conceived. Beverly herself would have been in her mid-50s after Star Trek: Nemesis since she was born in 2324. Yet somehow, they were apparently both physically capable of conceiving a child.
Star Trek: Picard season 3 is designed as a final grand adventure of Star Trek: The Next Generation's cast, and it's also meant to be a passing of the torch from TNG to the 'next generation.' Picard having no offspring is an issue that season 3 had to address and remedy, but a mystery son who is full-grown appearing out of the blue is a pure soap opera trope that will require a lot of meaningful explanation and justification. This isn't to say Star Trek: Picard season 3 can't or won't make the Jack Crusher revelation credible in its remaining 8 episodes, but it's understandable if Captain Liam Shaw's (Todd Stashwick) reaction to the news is echoed by the audience.
Why Did Beverly Crusher Keep Picard Away From His Son?
Beverly confirming to Jean-Luc that Jack is his son means that the intrepid Dr. Crusher now has a lot of explaining to do. Evidently, Beverly had Jack in secret and cut off her former Enterprise crew mates from her life so that neither Jean-Luc nor the others ever knew about her new son. In fact, Beverly would have continued to maintain her secret had she and Jack not been attacked and chased for weeks by Captain Vadic and other mysterious forces who identified as Fenris Rangers, Klingons, and even Starfleet. So Beverly had no intention of letting Jean-Luc into her and Jack's lives until she was in a crisis and had no choice.
It's possible something yet to be revealed happened between Picard and Dr. Crusher that led to her leaving the Enterprise and ending ties with the Captain. Yet despite the coldness of ghosting Jean-Luc and their friends for two decades, it's hard to believe Beverly Crusher would do such a thing without a good reason. There must be a just cause for Beverly to keep Jack separated from his father. And perhaps trying to reconcile this behavior from Beverly is part of why Jean-Luc couldn't rationalize the idea that Jack is his son until Dr. Crusher ended his doubts.
What About Wesley Crusher In Picard Season 3?
Of course, the revelation that Beverly Crusher has a son with Jean-Luc Picard raises the question of her firstborn son, Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton). Wesley was never mentioned in the first two episodes of Star Trek: Picard season 3, but the Jack Crusher revelation obviously affects Wes too. After all, Jack is named after Wesley's father and Beverly's late husband, Lt. Commander Jack Crusher (Doug Wert). Jack Sr. was also Captain Picard's best friend when they served together on the USS Stargazer. Jack Crusher II is obviously Wesley's younger half-brother, and this creates more mysteries.
Wesley Crusher is currently a cosmic being called a Traveler who traverses space and time. Wesley's last appearance was in 2024 Los Angeles when he recruited Kore Soong (Isa Briones) into the Travelers at the end of Star Trek: Picard season 2. Yet Wes never made contact with Jean-Luc, which indicates Wesley keeps his distance from his former TNG friends. Wil Wheaton hasn't been announced to appear in Star Trek: Picard season 3, but it's certainly possible he will pop up during the final season. If Wesley does materialize, Star Trek: Picard will hopefully address whether the eldest living male Crusher knows about his little brother and how Wesley feels about Jack Crusher as the son of his mom and his father figure and mentor, Jean-Luc Picard.
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.